using our brains to save yours

Indeed

Ten years ago, before zombies were legend, I sat down and began a journey that would eventually bring some of you with me down the long, post-apocalyptic road of armageddon. Day by Day Armageddon, for some, was a brief escapist reprieve from a cubicle or other such devilry. For others, it was the heart and soul of a lone survivor poured onto the pages of a ten dollar paperback. For me, it was a humble contribution to a zeitgeist defining genre.

Fast forward to now, and we’ve seen the zombie genre explode into every medium you’ll pay money for. As an ardent gamer since the days you needed a flathead screwdriver to connect your console to your TV, I’ve played my share of zombie games. In all my years of blistered thumbs, I hadn’t run across a title that I thought did the genre justice—until a year ago. I had recently transferred from an arduous tour of duty and had a little free time on my hands. I decided to boot up my Xbox 360 to see what I’d been missing. After an eon of system updates, I scanned the Xbox Marketplace and noticed a game titled State of Decay.

In the hours of gameplay that followed, I got that familiar feeling again. The same feeling I’d felt ten years prior when beginning to construct the Day by Day Armageddon universe. The game I had discovered a year ago was built from the same DNA that made Day by Day Armageddon possible. You can’t fake heart, and that’s exactly what went into the making of State of Decay. Hands down, it was the most addictive and fun zombie survival simulator I’d played.

A year went by before I stumbled across an Xbox Wire interview with Undead Labs Founder, Jeff Strain. When I saw that Jeff mentioned my work as a small inspiration for State of Decay, I had to reach out. After all, I love playing quality video games as much as I love writing about surviving a zombie apocalypse (hmmm?).

Three words started it all.

The next thing I knew I was in Seattle talking with a group of professionals that shared my love for cool stuff; it didn’t take long to feel right at home at Undead Labs. I can’t go into specifics as to what I’m doing, but I can say that I’m excited to be a part of the future of State of Decay. Check those rifles and food stores, but first…

Lock your doors,

J.L. Bourne

[For more background, check out Jeff’s post about how we met J.L. located here.]

Please give J.L. a warm welcome over on our forum by clicking the green tape down and to the right.